iggy azalea, beyoncé and one direction win big at amas

Music’s big guns descend on LA for the American Music Awards.

The American Music Awards took place last night at LA's Nokia Theatre, with the biggest surprise of the evening being Iggy Azalea's victory over Drake and Eminem in the rap/hip hop category (Artist of the Year and Favourite album). One Direction took home Favourite Band and Favourite Album (Pop/Rock), and also beat off Beyoncé to Artist of the Year. B wasn't beefing though: she took home Favourite Female Artist (Soul/R&B) and Favourite Album (Soul/R&B).

The Single of the Year was Katy Perry's trap-pop crossover Dark Horse, which featured Tennessee rapper Juicy J (knocking the smile off the face of Pharrell's Happy). And Pharrell lost out again as Favourite Male Artist to British newcomer Sam Smith. Taylor Swift, whose recent album, 1989, didn't make the awards' cut, still managed to go home with some silverware, winning the Dick Clark Award For Excellence (Dick Clark being a former host of music TV show American Bandstand for 30 years). Performances on the night came from Iggy, Ariana Grande, Jessie J, Nicki Minaj, Mary J Blige, Lorde and Sam Smith.